Means for automatically opening doors or gates



July 24, 1923. I 1,463,079

' G. N. GIVENS MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY OPENING DOORS OR GATES File May 2'7, 1921 J 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 George INVENTOR WITNES ES f. I BY I I v W i ATTORNEY NGivens July 24,1923. 1 R,463,79

, G. N. GIVENS MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY OPENING DOORS OR GATES Filed May 27,- 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 To); 0 o

' F P, so

George N Givens INVENTOR Patented July 2 1 i923.

NHTED GEORGE NEVITQN GIVE'NS, OF COLFAX, LOUISIANA, CHARLES E. DUFFEY, OF COLFAX,

ASSIGNOR OF TWO-FIFTHS TO LOUISIANA.

MEANS FOR- AU'IOMATICALLY OPENING.- DOORS OR GATES.

Application filed May 27,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Guonen N. GivnNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Colfax, Grant Parish, and State of Loui- 5 siana, have invented a new and useful Means for Automatically Opening Doors or Gates,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and improved means for automatically opening doors or gates by vehicle wheels, and is more particularly directed to a means adapted to be automatically operated by the wheels of an automobile for opening and closing the doors of a garage.

Heretofore it has been customary, in adopting some means to automatically open the doors and gates by vehicle wheels, to employ a mechanism which required an underground casing, or when the under ground casing was discarded to place the mechanism in the open on one or both sides of the roadbed and in a position which was either dangerous to traffic, or where there was danger of injuring the mechanism.

I eliminate this method of installing the automatic means for opening doors or gates by providing an overhead connection between the device adapted to be engaged by the wheels and the swinging mechanism connected with the doors. This is especiallv 21 more suitable arrangement in towns or cities where garages are built close to the sidewalk. While I have pointed out specifically the results obtained by such an overhead construction, I do not intend to limit my invention to that form.

' The invention broadly comprises a crank adapted to operate an arm which in turn alternately engages stops on a loosely mounted drum. The drum is connected by a series of pulleys and a cable to a rotatably mounted rod which is operatively connected with one door or gate. This rod is operatively connected with another loosely mounted rod by means of a pulley and cable, the second rod being connected to the other section of the door, the second rod having a movement of rotation which is the reverse of the movement of rotation of the first rod by 5% reason of a crossed cable which connects the two pulleys mounted on the several rods. lVhen the front wheels of an automobile moving towards the garage depress the crank forwardly the doors of the garage are opened. When the rear wheels pass 1921. Serial at. 472,988.

over the crank, the doors are unaffectedby the movement of the crank. \Vhen the movement of the automobile is reversed and the" rear wheels depress the crank in an opposite direction, the doors are closed but when the front wheels pass over the crank as the automobile is moving rearwardly, the doors 1 remain unmoved by the second depression of the crank. Some means is employed for maintaining the crank in an operative position. I

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing. in the drawing, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure; from Fig. 3 is a view in detail of the drum and the means for rotating the drum for opening the doors and showing the operating arm in position when the doors are open.

Fig. 4 is a view in detail showing the reverse movement of the arm for operating the 7 drum to open the doors.

In the drawings, 1 designates the front of a garage, and 2 an opening adaptedflto be closed by thedoors 3 and 45, which are swingably mounted to the door jambs by means of the hinges 5. An inclined platform .6 is placed at the door sill.

Rods 7 and 8' are vertically mounted on the front of the garage in the brackets 9 and 10. The links 11 and 12 pivoted on each other at 13, operativel-y connect the doors with the vertical rods 7 and 8,-the link 12 being pivoted to the door, while the link 11 is securely fixed to the vertical rods and adapted to act as a crank arm when the rods 7 and 8 are rotated to move the link 11 to open or close the doors.

Pulleys 14 and 15 are secured on the upper ends of the rods 7 and 8, respectively, and

mounted drum to rotate.

are adapted to be rotated by means of the crossed belt or cable 16. Mounted above the pulley 14 on the extreme upper end of the rod '7 is a pulley 17 which may be separate from the pulley 1a or may be formed integrally therewith. A portion of the belt 18 is adapted to partially encircle'the pulley 17 and to lead over the idler pulleys 19 and then pass around a drum 20 loosely mounted on the shaft 21. A portion of the drum 20 is located below the ground in a pocket, the sides of which may be walled with some form of masonry.

The shaft 21 is rotatably mounted in brackets 22 and 23 secured in any suitable manner to a foundation located in the ground at a convenient point from the garage. Inclined blocks 24 are placed on opposite sides of the shaft 21 and in between the brackets 22 and 23 in order to protect the shaft from the wheels of'the vehicle as it passes over the shaft to operate the crank 25 which is secured to said shaft and is adapted to stand normally in a vertical po sition.

, An arm 26 which is secured to the shaft 21 on the other side of the drum 20 is positioned in the .same vertical plane that passes through the crank 25 and is adapted to project between the projections or blocks 27 and 28 that are fixed to the side of the drum and spaced apart from each other near the periphery of the drum. The upstanding arm 26 alternately engages the blocks 27 and 28 when the crank 25 is operated in either direction by the vehicle wheels but is held in a vertical position and always in engagement with one of the blocks 27 by means of the weight 29 suspended from a cable 30 operating over the idler pulleys 31 and 32 and secured to the upper end-0f the arm 26. In order to support the idlers 19, 31 and 32, a post 33 is planted in the ground and provided'with an inwardly-extending beam 34: upon which the idler 19 is mounted, and a cross beam 35 secured. near the top of the post 33 is provided with pockets 36 and 37 in which the idlers 31 and 32 are rotatably mounted. A casing 38, which is illustrated as rectangular in shape, encloses the weight 29.

--The operation of my device is as follows. The arm 26 and the crank 25 will always be in a vertical position. and as shown in Fig. 2, the arm 26 will be in engagement with the projection or lug 27 when the doors are closed. When a vehicle approaches the garage and the door'is being closed, the wheels of the vehicle will ride over and depres the bail or crank 25, causing a rotation of the shaft 21 and likewise forcing the rod in wardly towards the doors carrying with it the lug 27 which will cause the loosely The rotation of the drum transmits a rotary motion to the pulley 17 through the cable 18 and likewise rotating the rods 7 and 8through'the pulleys 14 and 15 and the cable 16. By reason of the crossed cable 16, the rod 8 will be rotated in a direction which will be reverse of the direction of rotation of the rod 7. By means of. a reverse rotation of the rods 7 and 8, the doors 3 and 4, through the links 11 and 12, are swung outwardly on the hinges in opposite directions, thus opening the doors.

As the front wheel leaves the crank 25, the weight which has been raised by the descent of the rod 26 will restor the bail or crank 25 and the arm 26 to their normal vertical positions. The rear wheel must necessarily and will also pass over the bail or crank 25, but since the lug 27 has been rotated through ninety degrees and is in the position shown in Fig. 3, no further movement of the drum will be had when the arm 26 is depressed by the rear wheel. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the arm 26 will again be returned to its normal vertical position in engagement with the lug orprojection 28, when the rear wheel leaves the crank 25.

When th automobile is moved in the reverse direction, or in other words, as the automobile is moved out of the garage, the doors having been opened, the rear wheels will pass over the bail or crank 25 and depress it away from the garage, again rotat ing the shaft 21, imparting a rearward movement to the arm 26, and raising the weight 29. The lug 28, which has been in engagement with the arm 26, is given a circumferential movement through an arc of ninety degrees. and the drum on which the lugs is secured is also rotated through an arc of ninety degrees. The movement of rotation of the drum is imparted through the cable 18 to the pulleys 14: and 15 and cable 16 to close the doors, the rotation of the rods 7 and 8 at this time being a reversal of the rotation previously described for opening the doors. After the rear wheels have left the crank 25, theweight 29 descends and restores the crank Y25 and the arm 26 to their normal vertical positions, the arm being in contact with the lug 27. The front wheels will. also pass over and operate the .crank 25, but as the projection or lug 28 remains in the position shown in Fig. l,the drum will not be rotated and the doors will remain closed. When the front wheel passes from the crank 25, the arm 26 and. the crank 25 will be restored to their normal positions by the weight 29, the arm 26 being again placed in engagement with the lug 27 so that when the automobile is returned to the garage the arm 26 and the lug 27 will again be operated by the bail for opening the doors, as was previously described.

I do not intend to limit the construction of my device to a means for operating the doors on the outside of the garage, since a similar crank and connecting operating means may be employed within the garage for closing the door when the automobile is passed safely within the garage, and also for opening the doors when the car is driven forwardly towards the entrance to operate a bail or crank similar to the one previously described.

What is claimed is In a device for automatically opening doors by vehicle wheels the combination with swinging doors, rods mounted for rotation adjacent the doors, a lever rigidly connected at one end to a rod, a link pivotally connected at one end to the free end of th lever with the other end of the link pivotally connected to a door means operatively connecting the rods together for simultaneous rotation but in opposite di rections, a crank pivotally mounted remote from said rods, a shaft operated by said crank, an arm operated by said shaft, a drum loosely mounted on the shaft between the arm and the crank and provided with spaced projections on the side of the drum adjacent the arm. said arm adapted to alternately engage said projections to rotate the drum in either direction, means operatively connecting the drum with one of the rotatively mounted rods for transmitting rotary motion from the drum to one of the rods, a hollow post located in protective relation to the shaft, drum, and operating arm. a weight adapted to be operated within the post, and a flexible means connecting the operating arm with the weight and supported upon the post.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my sig nature.

GEORGE NEWTON GIVENS 

